NESCAC

[FourMoreYears]

3-2 trinity over Wheaton in OT.
Goal by Savonen to win it.

[PaulNewman]

3-2 trinity over Wheaton in OT.
Goal by Savonen to win it.

Box score says Malcolm Joseph.  Is that wrong?

[FourMoreYears]

It was Savenon.  I was on the fence alongside the field at that end of the field.
I think Wheaton probably got confused as Joseph is #8 (and played on the back line today) and Savenon is #9.

[NewEngland]

Conn 1-0 ECSU.

Didn't see the game but that is a good win for the Camels. 6 game unbeaten streak and 7-2-1 on the season. Bates, Amherst, Bowdoin and Wesleyan left in conference. 6-3-1 or 5-3-2 is reasonable. Is that enough to host this year?

[Mr.Right]

Yes..They should for the 1st time in Nescac History get a Top 4 seed, unless they totally fizzle which I do not think will happen. 7-2-1 wit 5 games remaining. To stay in a Pool C At-Large picture which again I feel they can they must go 11-3-1 or 10-3-2. The great news is Bates, Bowdoin and Wesleyan are all home. Amherst is the road game along with Framingham St. They could go 9-4-2 only if they beat Amherst and get to Nescac Semi's and lose in PK's...Alot of ifs I know but they have a much more favorable schedule to end then does Wesleyan.

[amh63]

With thanks to today's technology .....there is s short highlight video of the Tuft's-Amherst match at Amherst...on the Amherst website....Athletics...Soccer site.  Shows some fine play by both GKs.
Oh yes, Amherst played an away game last night...out of conference...in Newburgh NY.  Won 3-0.  Seems there were many new faces in the Amherst lineup.   
While the school is on a mid- semester break, the team travels up to Maine for a conference match on Sat.

[All NESCAC]

Yes..They should for the 1st time in Nescac History get a Top 4 seed, unless they totally fizzle which I do not think will happen. 7-2-1 wit 5 games remaining. To stay in a Pool C At-Large picture which again I feel they can they must go 11-3-1 or 10-3-2. The great news is Bates, Bowdoin and Wesleyan are all home. Amherst is the road game along with Framingham St. They could go 9-4-2 only if they beat Amherst and get to Nescac Semi's and lose in PK's...Alot of ifs I know but they have a much more favorable schedule to end then does Wesleyan.

A lot of ifs...agreed, but with the home schedule it is possible.  Conn should have a sizeable crowd on Saturday on the Temple Green for homecoming game vs Bates....the frosh have really come through for the Camels as Leone and Lockwood again combine for the winner vs EConn.

[Mr.Right]

Nescac Predictions...Home Team Listed First.

Saturday:

Wesleyan v Colby-----------0-1         This is my upset special. Wesleyan will be overlooking Colby to Midd on Sunday and stumble. Wesleyan has more talent all over the field and out shoots Colby 3:1 but Colby sneaks a header in off a long throw by #10. This game will be stuck in midfield expect for set pieces as Colby will defend well against Wesleyan slow possession style through midfield.

Tufts v Midd-----------------1-0         Game of the Week.  Also, a VERY tough prediction.  Tufts is 0-3-1 in their last 4 but they were in all 4 and could have gone 3-0-1. Midd is beating their weak competition but also taking care of business against Nescac teams they should beat. This game is different. Midd will always be solid on set pieces with Conrad taking most just outside the box and can connect with that killer left foot.  On Corner sand and Long Throws they have an abundance of size and usually this is where Deklan Robinson earns his navy blue. Midd also will not possess much, which is what Tufts defends well the most. Midd GK Sydor having a great year. All this points to a MIdd win but NOPE. Tufts showed us against Amherst they can play against this type of style and be successful. They did not win but had chances to win. Tufts CB's with their height should deal with Midd's long throws and corners but they will wear you down if you give them too many. On Tufts short field Midd will be flinging these in all day. Just % wise the more you give the more the ball bounces around and gets put home. Still my hunch say's Tufts 1-0 in an ugly ugly game as Midd will just turn this into a Volleyball game.. Parents please cover any soccer player's eyes under 12 watching. This is not how soccer is meant to be played.

Trinity v Bowdoin--------------1-2    Trinity is playing better of late but Bowdoin has more talent than Bates and Wheaton. Bowdoin has really disappointed me so far this year but their schedule is in their favor the rest of the year. I would like to see Andrew Jones get more involved and not only fly up and down the wings but maybe beat a guy or 2 and score.  I think Bowdoin can shut down anything Trinity has going forward. With Savonen, Grimand and Bednarek there is talent there but these Trinity sides can never get on the same page. The 2011 Trinity team did and had good leaders on the field and Myernick who was a head case but could score KEY goals.  This is not 2011 Trinity. Bowdoin takes it.

Hamilton v Amherst------------0-2      The last time Amherst travelled to Hamilton they went away with a draw in a game where Hamilton played well.  I do not think Hamilton's backline can deal with Amherst Front 3 but I did not see Martin in the box score last night for Amherst. Maybe he got some rest for a minor injury, who knows. Either way, Amherst just too much.

Conn v Bates---------------------3-1     Two teams going in opposite directions IMO. Conn cannot take Bates lightly and must not drop this game. Bates was over achieving to begin the year and they will come back to the bottom of the table where they normally are. Conn's CB Sommers has enough speed to deal with Knoth and I think if Conn attacks Bates like they did Williams with their wingbacks flying up and down the flanks they will score some goals and have many chances against Bates defense. They must go after Bates weakness in wingback Munoz and get as many shots as possible off against Bates GK Polito who will bobble some of them. Bates is decent on the counter though so Conn needs to stay on Perreria who threads the needle nicely.

RPI v Williams----------------------0-2   Two teams going in the same direction, which is DOWN. However, after watching RPI last night I felt Union stayed with them the whole game and had chances to win it. I was not overly impressed with RPI.  I also think they miss the LL Playoffs. Williams has talent they just need to get some balls and hunger to win any game at this point. I think Williams will look good on the turf and overwhelm RPI with shots and a couple goals. Union didn't really test RPI's keeper much but that will change in this game. Sullivan has nothing to lose at this point, they need to go all out attack mode here. I would love to see a 3-4-3 but I will not happen.

Sunday:

Wesleyan v Midd--------------------1-1  Another tough one to predict. Wesleyan always plays Midd tough and both teams will be worn down a bit after Saturday's games. Which team has better fitness and mentality to find a way to win it? I have no answer but I promise I will watch this one and let you know.

[amh63]

Mr.Right.....thanks for your thoughtful predictions.  Guess I cannot even read the schedule.  Clinton should be an interesting destination.

[Off Pitch]

SOS (opponent's winning percentage) thru 10/7:

                                         OWP      Current record       
1.  Tufts             56-23-9    0.687       5-3-1
2.  Williams        47-19-9    0.687       3-4-1
3.  Colby            48-33-8    0.584       2-5-2
4.  Hamilton       50-37-10   0.567       5-5-0               
5.  Wesleyan       44-37-6    0.540       6-2-1                 
6.  Amherst         48-41-7    0.536       9-0-0                 
7.  Middlebury     38-34-4    0.526       6-1-1                 
8.  Bowdoin         36-35-5    0.507       4-2-2                 
9.  Conn              45-45-8    0.500       7-2-1
10. Trinity           44-46-8    0.490       4-4-2         
11.  Bates            39-43-7   0.478       6-2-1                 

[Mr.Right]

As was predicted in the beginning of the year Williams and Tufts would have the best SOS in Nescac and a couple of the best in the country. At this point it does not matter for Williams but for Tufts sitting at 5-3-1 they might only need 9 wins to get in.

[TheSwayzeTrain]

As was predicted in the beginning of the year Williams and Tufts would have the best SOS in Nescac and a couple of the best in the country. At this point it does not matter for Williams but for Tufts sitting at 5-3-1 they might only need 9 wins to get in.

Disappointing to see Williams not be where they usually are this time of year. Might take some time for Sullivan but he will have the Ephs where they need to be soon enough. Can they get a result at RPI who is in their own little slide? Big turf fields haven't suited Williams well in the past, including when the Engineers got the win at home two years ago. Gut says 1-1, both teams struggling to find the back of the net; could even be 0-0.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Tufts completely drops off the national poll today and barely sneaks into the New England poll at 10th.  It's still too early to tell, but might Tufts Cinderella story already be over, and might they be relegated to "one hit wonder" status?  Time will tell.

Many one hit wonders if you look at Champions.  You can never take it away from those boys who participated.  Oh, do you recall the Giant Slayer goal by Kayne against Messiah last November? That was nice, wasn't it?

I agree with everything you are saying.

First, there absolutely are many one hit wonders if you look at teams that have won the D3 Soccer National Championship one time.  And that is exactly my point.  The more teams that can do it, the less unique it is.  For these teams the earth, moon, stars and sun all just happened to align at one glorious moment (or season) and then never really aligned again.  It's like trying to catch a butterfly with your bare hands.  You can try and try and try and maybe just once after much flailing you catch it.  But you can't repeat or duplicate the effort.  The real power of excellence comes with longevity...the ability to replicate or duplicate effort and corresponding positive results.  The question isn't can you flail and maybe catch the butterfly just once, but can you build a system (a program) that can do it time and time again.  When you start to define true champions (i.e. excellence) with this measure the list gets short very quickly...such as Babson in the 70's, UNC-Greensboro in the 80's, and Messiah in the 2000's.  When a program can string together successes like these have, there is something intentional going on that transcends the occasional random alignment of the earth, moon and stars.

All that being said, I also agree that you can't take away the fact that so many teams have won the Championship once.  Yes, they did it and for some in rather dramatic fashion.  The young men who participated on those teams will never forget their run and will lay claim to it for the rest of their lives - as they should.  And yes, of course Kayne made the shot of a lifetime against Messiah, catching every molecule of air in just the right way during it's flight.  No one in PA is going to forget that shot any time soon.  Yes it was a nice, even beautiful shot.  You can never take that shot away from that young man.

All I'm saying is this.  Do win it once, and then win it again and again.  Take the opportunity to prove that it wasn't just a one-off run when everything just so happened to align.  Certainly Tufts has the opportunity to do that now.  I think we all can agree that it is extremely difficult to do and that is exactly my point.  And that's exactly why so few have done it.

I also want to temper this a bit and say that it's not just about championships.  There are certainly some programs around who haven't won a lot of championships but who are consistently at or near the top.  And there are a few NESCAC teams who many would place in this group.  I think others might place teams like Wheaton (IL) in this group as well.  And these programs should ABSOLUTELY be part of the conversation about long term excellence in D3 soccer.  I don't think Tufts is quite there yet, but maybe they will be in the years to come.

[Mr.Right]

Wesleyan up 2-0 over Colby at Halftime.I guess they were not overlooking them. I was watching Midd v Tufts, did anyone see how Wesleyan scored?

[D3soccerwatcher]

Middlebury - 0
Tufts - 0
Halftime

I was struck by the amount of time the ball is in the air.  Vast number of long flighted balls (by both teams) - playing over top of the mid-field instead of building through it.  Kind of like a tennis match.  Resulting in only two total SOG's in the first half.